stolen memes

1. It’s all about your name – what is your real first name, who gave it to you and do you know it’s meaning?
my mum gave to me. it means small shrub or bush, I s’pose?

2. What is your favorite hobby/past-time?
writing

3. Do you sing in the shower?
sometimes

4. American Idol drops the age restrictions and opens auditions to the general public at large… would you audition?
uhm, no.

5. Do you have a talent or two?
i can juggle, a little bit. i’m a decent writer. i’m really good with kids. and I have this uncanny knack at finding things- not necessarily things that *I* lost, but things for other people. I used to think it was just for M, cuz I knew her/her family so well, but I find it happening at work all of the time too, it freaks me out sometimes.

6. Everyone, in the dark recesses of their minds has some ‘thing’ that they fantasize about, or lose themselves in. What is it that you fantasize about or think about to get your mind off of other things?
I s’pose it’s in the dark recesses of my mind for a *reason* :op

7. Have you ever been in rehab or in a 12 Step recovery program, and why?
nope

8. What are your vices?
procrastination. being over-responsible sometimes. pessimism. are those vices or just negative personality traits??

9. Food, fabulous food . . . what is your favorite food?
pasta

10. How old were you the first time you got drunk?
21. Actually, prolly closer to 22. I was a good girl. (mostly I had no interest.)

11. People do experiment, what recreational drugs have you tried in the past?
just pot. prolly not even 5 times. and i enjoy/ed it very much. i get giggly and mellowwwwww. but also paranoid-ish if I smoke too much, apparently. (not like “the government is watching our every move!!!” kind of paranoid. More like “oh fuck, don’t make ME answer the door! the pizza man will know for SURE that I’m totally messed up! then what? what if he knows? he won’t. but what if he DOES?” heh.)

12. Have you ever been in a car accident?
minor ones, yes

13. Have you ever watched someone die?
no.

14. So many of us swore we were going to save that coveted virginity for our wedding night . . . but how many truly did? How old where you when you lost your virginity?
uhm. define that…..:p We’ll say 26 for simplicity’s sake.

15. Give a detailed description of your nightstand – what is on it, and why?
a cd player/radio cuz I listen to music before I go to sleep but I don’t like it to be loud, so it needs to be right near my head. my cell phone charger, cuz it’s more convenient than keeping it on my desk with all of the other clutter, and cuz my cell phone serves as my alarm clock. a small wallet of cd’s, cuz that’s where i left them when I unpacked the last time. “pigs in heaven” by barbara kingsolver, cuz it’s the last book i was reading but I’m done with it now. a journal and a pen cuz sometimes I like to wake up and write down my funkyass dreams, or cuz I sometimes write before I go to bed too.

16. If you could change one thing about your body/looks what would it be and why?
smaller boobs!

17. If money were no object what vehicle/car would you drive?
something reliable. with a multidisc cd player. and automatic door locks.

18. What is your favorite flower?
lilacs, stargazer lilies, easter lilies

19. Who is your favorite:
Actor: Richard Gere
Actress: Angelina Jolie
Band/Musician: I’ve a million. Right now I’m keen on Lifehouse
Writer/Author: again, I’ve several. Barbara Kingsolver certainly. Piers Anthony. Rilke. JD Salinger.

20. Your 1st “True Love”, does the candle still burn?
no. sputters a bit when I hear certain songs or think of certain things. but the candle is nothing compared to the warm cozy hearth i have now 😀

21. What is the worst lie you ever told?
I’m not big on lies. Most of mine tend to be omissions of truths or facts rather than flat out lies. Like I still have never told my mum or sister that I flew all the way across the country when I was a freshman in college to meet an internet “stranger”….

22. What is the kinkiest thing you’ve ever done?
heh. not so kinky.

23. Hypothetically – you or your significant other are about to give birth, do you videotape the delivery?
probably. I like capturing the moment. However, the situation is HIGHLY unlikely. And I’d rather someone else be taping, so the two of us could be, ya know, huffing and puffing and remembering to breathe.

24. You’re out for a brisk walk one evening when you happen upon a rather distressed looking brown paper bag. You pick it up, it’s all wrinkled and worn, and look inside. You find $5000 in cold hard cash inside. What do you do?
turn it in. People don’t just “lose” 5000 in cash. It’s prolly some clue to some crime or something.

25. Was your first ‘real’ kiss memorable, or highly forgettable?
memorable.

26. When you find yourself in the cemetery, standing at the headstone of a departed loved one . . . do you speak out loud/talk to them?
never visited anyone I knew that well. but i find myself in the cemetary relatively often, and i’ve spoken out loud to several headstones. usually children’s, usually pieces of poetry.

27. What is your favorite breed of dog?
i’m partial to shih-tzu’s cuz we used to raise them when i was a kid. but i really adored m’s labs. but i like mutts, too. I think I like personalities more than specific breeds.

28. Once again, money is no object; describe your favorite/ideal vacation plans.
would depend on where AJ wanted to go. I’d be up for anything, so long as it involved at least some bit of travelling and visiting ‘foreign’ locations. and a beach with crystal blue waters and white sands would need to come in to the picture at some point.

29. Do you believe in ghosts/supernatural phenomenon?
i suppose i do, to a point.

30. When was the last time you climbed a tree?
heh. uhmmm. goodness. It’s been far too long! 🙁

31. Would you prefer living in the country or the city?
I think the city would be ok for a short while, but I’m prolly more a country girl. Quiet suburbs, at least.

32. If you could go back in time and change one thing in your life, what would it be?
ah, but changing one single thing would effect everything that came after. And right now, today, I’m pretty content with what I have. I’m not sure I’d be willing to sacrifice AJ or M or the other wonderful peeps in my life and the chance at knowing them for anything in the past. At least, not today. 🙂

33. Is the glass half empty or half full?
cracked, and i just cut my lip on it! 😉 i dunno, it’s always sloshing around too much to really get a good view, for me.

34. Is that your natural hair color?
yepperz

35. What color are your eyes?
brown

36. Is there a song that moves you to tears? If so, which one(s) and why?
Scarecrow by melissa etheridge cuz she sings it so intensely and it’s about such a powerful subject (the beating and torture and subsequent death of matthew shephard) Drive by The Cars cuz it’s just so…I dunno if raw is the right word, but, the questions it asks evoke strong emotions in me.Gosh, there’s a list of about 2 dozen that can cause me to choke up/withdraw if they happen to catch me off guard some days. Other days they make me smile wistfully, I suppose. But. I have to admit, they still cause a pinprick of pain in my heart for things lost. sputtering candles and such…

37. What do you consider to be your biggest failure in life?
nursing school.

38. The college of ‘your dreams’ has just offered you a complete scholarship to attend their facility, majoring in your choice of courses . . . what is your dream career?
nursing? ha. no. uhm….I’ve had to think about this question a LOT in the past few months. And. For years I wouldn’t let myself believe that I wanted to do psychology, cuz mum was so against it and made it seem so impractical. But. I dunno. I think something in that field with kids would suit me pretty well.

39. Who is your favorite poet? Share your favorite poem here:
I adore poetry and have several faves, I’m sure. top three off the top of my head would be Rilke, ee cummings and JL Contrad. but there are so many amazing others. Mary Oliver, Lisel Mueller, Frost, Shel Silverstein. Some of my friends are *amazing* poets.
This one I have readily available and it always….I always have to stop and hear myself read it out loud if even out loud in my head…..this is one piece where I always have to taste the words and roll them around slowly, I can never rush thru reading this one.
The Blind Leading the Blind by Lisel Mueller

Take my hand. There are two of us in this cave.
The sound you hear is water; you will hear it forever.
The ground you walk on is rock. I have been here before.
People come here to be born, to discover, to kiss,
to dream, and to dig and to kill. Watch out for the mud.
Summer blows in with scent of horses and roses;
fall with the sound of sound breaking; winter shoves
its empty sleeve down the dark of your throat.
You will learn toads from diamonds, the fist from the palm,
love from the sweat of love, falling from flying.
There are a thousand turnoffs. I have been here before.
Once I fell off a precipice. Once I found gold.
Once I stumbled upon murder, the thin parts of a girl.
Walk on, keep walking, there are axes above us.
Watch for occasional bits and bubbles of light–
birthdays for you, recognitions: yourself, another.
Watch for the mud. Listen for bells, for beggars.
Something with wings went crazy against my chest once.
There are two of us here. Touch me.
~Lisel Mueller.

40. Write down the last recipe you prepared from your favorite cookbook:
Dunno that I’ve ever cooked successfully from a cookbook. (Or from anything for that matter….) I tend to stick to microwavable things. And grilled cheese, I do ok with those.